The Page Thief
by Isthi
Summary: Sakura has been lonely. Kakashi has been indifferent, at least until someone starts to steal pages from his favorite books...
1. Chapter 1

**The Page Thief**

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, I just like sandbox games...

Summary: Sakura has been lonely. Kakashi has been indifferent, at least until someone starts to steal pages from his favorite books...

**Chapter One**

The fabric was soft against her fingers as she began to lean in. The sad scent of blood touched her nose. Her face wrinkled, but her intent was strong and unwavering. Their lips touched, soft and foreign, a coppery tinge flowed through her senses. She licked her lips and stared at _this _mask of _this _man.

* * *

Sakura awoke with a start, frustration laced her pink eyebrows and sweat covered her brow.

"Did I really just dream about that?" The words came quietly out of her mouth, as she sat on the edge of her bed and put her head in her hands. "This cannot keep happening to me. . ."

She glanced at the clock on the bedside table, only three hours till she was to be at the hospital for her shift. She walked into the bathroom, shrugging out of her nightwear, and stepped into the shower. The water was warm against her recently frustrated body, and she sank into relaxation.

* * *

It was about an hour before sunrise when she left the apartment. She still had two hours to kill before she had to head in for her shift and decided to walk aimlessly around. It was still dark outside, and she paid little attention to where she was going.

Sakura passed the entrance to the town and began to turn around until she heard a soft hum from outside the gate. She turned around to look at the approaching man. At first all she saw was white hair, tucked behind the green cover a book. A smile crossed her lips.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi kept walking and pulled his right hand out of his pocket and jerked his hand into a 'wave'. "Hello, Sakura," came muffled from behind the book as he kept walking.

An exasperated sigh left her lips as she turned back to catch up with him. "Is that all you can spare for your former student, Kakashi-sensei? Not a 'how are you today?' or a 'what have you been up to?' We haven't talked in two months and all you can say is 'hello, Sakura'?' The pink-haired ninja was beginning to boil over the top at this point, and her hands began to clench into fists.

A few moments later, Kakashi snapped his book shut and tucked it away. He glanced a look at her with his eye, sighed, ran his hand through his hair, and sighed again. "Sakura, it's been a long day, I'd rather you didn't try to hit me."

This comment only managed to add to her frustration, her fists clenching tighter. "Why do I even bother to try to keep in touch with any of you?! All you three have ever done is run off the first chance you get. Sauske's gone. I know that and I understand that. Naruto's busy. He's fulfilling his life long dream. But you, you're the worst. You have no reason to ignore us, to ignore me. I guess you've just moved on from Team 7, and maybe we should move on from you!" Tears began to form in her eyes, and she darted off in an angry blur.

* * *

"Sakura…" the copy-ninja said softly. "You take everything way to hard on yourself." He pulled out his book and began to read again.

Kakashi went about his morning, as he normally would have. He stopped for some ramen, and then headed back to his apartment. He took the stairs slowly, his book back in his hands.

Once inside, he tossed his things carelessly on the table, and then wandered back towards his bedroom. He shut his book and slid it back onto the shelf. Lovingly, he eyed his collection as he chose another book. Stripping down to his boxers, Kakashi fell back onto his beds. Opening his book, he began to read once more.

A few moments later, he was asleep, his beloved Icha-Icha book tucked beneath his chin.

* * *

Sakura was finishing her last chart of the day. She'd been on a 12 hour shift and was ready to get out of the hospital.

"Sakura," a voice came from over her shoulder. "Want to slow down a bit, can't read a damn thing you just wrote."

"Hrm? Oh sorry… I guess I just got in a hurry."

"Alright, hun. I'll take care of this for you, go get some rest."

"Thanks," Sakura smiled at the elderly nurse. She headed out the front door and headed out into the crisp fall air. A rumble escaped her stomach, reminding her that she had skipped lunch. She decided to head to a small restaurant on the corner just across from the hospital.

It was crowded, and there wasn't a spare table in the room, but she headed for the counter nonetheless. Just then, a familiar book caught her eye. A mangled copy of Icha-Icha.

Sakura sighed, "Well, at least I'll have somewhere to sit. . ."

"Hello, Sakura," the ninja said, without looking up from his book.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei," she mumbled out, staring down at the table. "Sorry about earlier, I . . . "

"It's fine."

"So… uhm…" She was stumbling, looking for something to say. "Where were you coming back from."

"A mission." He flipped the page of his book.

Sakura nodded. "I take it that it went well."

"Mmhmm."

_Flip_. Pause.

"Were you gone for a long time?"

"Only a day."

"What did you spend the day doing?"

"Sleeping."

_Flip_. Pause.

Sakura bit her lower lip in a show of defeat and began to stir her food around in the bowl. People were starting to trickle out of the restaurant now, and there were only a few people left. She wanted to get up and take one of the spare tables, but she wouldn't, couldn't even.

_Flip_.

"About earlier, I had just slept poorly, and I was just angry at everyone being so busy. . ."

"I said it was fine, Sakura."

_Flip. _Pause.

"I just think we should spend more time together. Keep in touch, you know?"

_Flip._ Pause.

Sakura drummed her fingers on the table. It took every fiber in her body not to reach out and knock that book out of his hands. How could he just sit there and read while she was trying to apologize and explain her actions to him. Could he really be that indifferent?

_Flip. _ Pause.

"Well thanks for letting me sit here, Kakashi-sensei." She stood up from the table and bit her lip again. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Sakura."

_Flip. _ Pause.

Her shoes felt like led as she walked away from the table. Her chest felt weak and irritated. Her breathing was exasperated as she came out onto the street. All she needed was a good nights sleep.

If only, if only.


	2. Midnight dreams, midnight visitors

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of these characters/places - - I just like to play in the Sandbox...

**A/N: **I really appreciate the reviews and such. This is my first attempt at a fanfiction and my first attempt at a sort of serialized story, any constructive criticism or advice would be amazing. I'll try to update once or twice a week... chapter threes pretty much done, so that shouldn't be too hard at this point.

**The Page Thief -- Chapter 2: **Midnight dreams, midnight visitors.

* * *

Someone knocked on the door.

Sakura turned on the light next to her bed. Sitting up, she rubbed her temples. Glancing at the clock she determined it was 2:30 a.m.

The knock came again. _What the fuck… _

She got up, pausing to put her slippers on and looked in the mirror. Staring back at her was a tangled mass of pink hair on top of a very sleepy pair of green eyes.

The knock came again.

"Hold on a minute!" Sakura shouted at the door. She was wearing short pink shorts and a white tank top. She ran a hand through her hair and then shuffled to the door.

"Sakura, come on!" Came an all to familiar voice.

Sakura flung the door open, "Naruto!" She flung her arms around him. Pulling away, she took his face in her hands. There was that unforgettable grin on his face, and his bright blue eyes were shining in the dark. "What are you doing here?"

"Haha, Sakura… I just thought I'd come back to see how everyone was doing!"

"But Naruto… I thought you were supposed to be gone till the end of the month…"

"Haha," Naruto's head cocked to one side and his hand reached to rub the back of his head, that grin splitting his face. "I'm not really supposed to be here yet… That's why I came in the middle of the night, duh!" He knocked Sakura on the head.

"You want something to eat?"

"Nah, just came to say hey." Naruto made his way to the couch and flung himself onto it. "How've things been here?"

Sakura sighed, "They've been ok. Busy at the hospital." She put a kettle on the stove for tea and then joined Naruto on the couch. "I haven't been sleeping well…"

* * *

The ninja darted up the street with an angry look in his one visible feature. He hated being out this late, especially because he was not on a mission this time. "I'm sick of saving that kids skin," he grumbled out as he slowed to a trot. He took the stairs two at a time until he reached the second story and stood at the door to the apartment.

He paused for a second, considering knocking, but decided to go around to a window instead.

He hopped over the railing landed on a tree limb just outside the window to a poorly lit apartment. He squinted his eye and peered inside. "Goddamnit, kid. I thought you wanted this." With a long sigh he went back around to the door and swung it open.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing here?" He was already to the couch, lifting Naruto's smaller body off the ground. "You know you aren't supposed to be here. Everything you've worked for gone, just to see some friend?"

"Kakashi-sensei, put me down!" Naruto said, beginning to squirm. "Don't make me hurt you!"

Kakashi let his grip slip and Naruto fell back onto the couch. "Is seeing Sakura worth ruining your dream to be the next Hokage?!"

"But I… I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I'll head back out. It was nice to see you Sakura, Kakashi-sensei." A smile darted back across the blondes face as he ran out the door. "See you in a few weeks!"

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief and ran his hand through his hair, "That boy is going to give us all a run for are money."

Sakura cleared her throat, now standing in the door that Naruto had just left open.

Kakashi looked at her questioningly and began to walk towards the door as well. "Excuse me, Sakura."

"So you think can just bust into my house?" Her arms were crossed and her brow was furrowed.

"So you want to ruin that boy's dreams for your own selfish desires?" Kakashi's voice was calm and uncaring, lazy. "Same old Sakura."

"What are you talking about?"

"How many times has he been here? How many times have you caused an interruption in his training?" Kakashi was still maintaining that same calm voice.

Sakura, on the other hand began to raise her voice, "This is the first time he's been here. The first time I've seen him in months. What is your problem?!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Let me through, Sakura."

"Do you really hate me that much, Kakashi-sensei? Or is it just indifference?"

Kakashi lifted Sakura and placed her away from the door. "Stay away from Naruto, Sakura." Kakashi walked out the door and stopped.

"Who are you to tell me what to do? You can't have it both ways, Kakashi-sensei!" She slammed the door and fell to the floor in tears.

"He's not good for you, Sakura…" Kakashi whispered to the wind, and then walked down the stairs.

* * *

It was a 9 hours into her shift on a slow day. A week had gone by since she'd seen Naruto, and her days had been consistently filled with work, sleep, and dreams she'd rather not be having. She spun around in her chair and looked down at a chart she'd been pretending to work on for the past hour.

"Tough case, huh, Sakura?" A voice came from down the hall. "I think I've been by here four times and you keep working on that same chart." The woman chuckled and headed towards her.

"Oh, hi, I was just…" She looked guiltily towards Tsunade and then back down.

"Sakura, you've been like this for a week. What's on your mind?" The elderly woman took a seat next to Sakura and stared at her expectantly.

"I've just been having strange dreams lately. It's nothing, really."

"Tell me about some of them, dear."

Sakura sat quietly for a minute, thinking of which dream would be the least damning. "Well, for the past few nights, I've dreamt I was in a maze of trees. They're all 150 feet high, and I'm chasing after something, but I don't know what it is or where it went.

"And I always take the same route and wind up in the same spot, even though I know it's a dead end but I can't get away from it. All that's there is a stunted tree and a small pond. So I walk up to it, and look down into the water, which is always rippling when I approach it. Then it goes still, and I look down expecting to see my reflection, but…"

"Tsunade!" someone was screaming as they ran down the hall. "Tsunade!"

"Yes?"

"Kakashi's back." The man skidded to a stop and leaned down to catch his breath. "He says it's urgent."

"Thank you," she put a hand on the man's shoulder and smiled. Then she began to walk away. "Sakura, why don't we finish this later?"

Tsunade began to walk towards the exit in a deliberately slow motion, as if she had all the time in the world. She reached the door and turned around, "Sakura?"

"Mmm?" Sakura looked up, chewing the tip of her pen.

"Aren't you coming?" the older woman smiled and began to open the door.

"Oh, sure…" Sakura jumped up and hurried down the hallway after Tsunade. "Uhm, Tsunade, why am I coming along?"

The elderly woman smiled in that irritatingly knowing way and then shook her head. "Oh, I just think we might need a skilled healer with us, he might be injured." And with that, they walked in silence the rest of the way.


	3. For Someone So Observant

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of these characters/places… blah blah blah

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay… My life got complicated and annoying last week, but I think I've got it under control! Special thanks to everyone who reviewed; it reminds me that I'm supposed to continue writing this thing!

**The Page Thief – Chapter 3: **For Someone So Observant…

* * *

"Kakashi…" Tsunade smiled as they approached. "I trust everything went well."

"Hrm," Kakashi tilted his head backwards to look at the approaching women. He stood and nodded. He eyed the pink haired ninja suspiciously and jerked his head in her general direction.

"It's fine, Kakashi. She's only here to tend your wounds."

"I'm fine," the lazy eyed man responded.

"That's not what the bandages around your arm say. I know you avoid the hospital and myself like the plague. Now let this girl tend to you, and then we can talk. Lets go inside, shall we?" Without waiting for a reply the woman smiled and wandered inside. Sakura followed quickly and sat down inside of Tsunade's office. Kakashi wandered in a few moments later and sat next to Sakura, surrendering his hand to her presence.

Sakura gingerly lifted the cloth and began to unwrap his arm, not knowing what to expect. As she lifted the last layer of cloth, Kakashi hissed. The air was stabbing at the cuts on his arm. It looked mangled and by the look in Kakashi's eye, Sakura guessed that it felt that way too.

Kakashi pulled his arm back in reflex, "Don't do that!"

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura continued to stare at his arm. She placed her fingers over the open wounds and applied Chakra to his skin.

When she pulled her hands away, Kakashi couldn't even see a scar. "Look at him, Sakura. He thinks it's magic," Tsunade chuckled. "If you spent more time at the hospital, you wouldn't look so surprised. You'd think after training such a talented ninja in the healing arts, you'd be familiar with this sort of things."

"Haha," Kakashi chuckled. "I've never been much for hospitals…" They both stood up simultaneously and began to walk towards the door.

"Sakura, why don't you stay here," Tsunade called as she shut the door.

"Yeah, sure…" Sakura let out a sigh. She hadn't been able to look Kakashi in the eye due to their last encounter, and she sure didn't want to wait for him to come back. She sighed again and began to wander about the room. One of the walls was lined with books, old and new. Tracing the spines of some of the older copies of her favorite works, she smiled. She withdrew to the chair once again, but noticed something that was not quite chair beneath her. She pulled out a book with a green cover from underneath her.

It was one of Kakashi's beloved books by Icha-Icha...

Sakura grinned.

* * *

Kakashi was still staring at his arm as he walked outside with Tsunade. It's not like he'd never been healed before, and it certainly not like he'd never been healed by Sakura before. Yet, somehow this time was different. His entire body felt more relaxed as her chakra flowed through his body. He had not wanted the sensation to leave him and inwardly grimaced as she pulled away.

He watched his feet tread through the dirt as they wandered off so they were out of earshot of any passerby. They felt heavier than usual, like each step was a stretch to get his feet off the ground, like he was teathered.

"Kakashi…" a voice caught his ears from behind.

The usually wary man turned to see that Tsunade had stopped a few paces back.

"Let's hear what you have to say."

"Well…" Kakashi began. "I honestly think it's a lot worse than we had imagined…"

"Kakashi, we've planned for the worst. We'll be fine," Tsunade assured him.

Kakashi nodded in agreement, "We'll be fine…"

* * *

When they returned to her office, Sakura had gone.

"Where did that girl run off to?" Tsunade mused to herself. Kakashi shrugged as he spotted his book on the chair he had been sitting in. He picked it up and tucked it beneath his arm. "Don't run too far, Kakashi. I'll want to speak with you again… On another topic…"

With a wave of his hand in an ambivalent assent, he left Tsunade's office.

Out on the street, he pulled his book out, opened to the title page and gently touched the signature of his literary hero. He then flipped to the middle of the book and began to read as he wandered down the street.

* * *

Sakura was unnaturally happy, giddy even, as she wandered into work the next morning. She had slept seamlessly through the night and awoke to a bright beautiful morning. She grabbed a chart off the wall and wandered into a patient's room to start her day.

Six hours later, still unusually happy, she wandered out of the hospital, receiving strange glasses the whole way out. She began to walk down the street, wondering what to do with her afternoon off. She thought maybe she'd go for a workout and turned to head down to the fields on the edge of town.

Sakura was consumed in her thoughts. In her nineteen years of life, not once had she heard a story where revenge had ended up making things better. Such an act of petty spite rarely crossed her mind now a day, although revenge had been a common theme amongst her antics on Team 7. But during this moment, revenge had never tasted so sweet. In her pocket, she held the most priceless form of revenge imaginable. The thought of repercussions were long gone from her mind. In fact, she was sure that that was the part she would enjoy the most.

A hand grab her shoulder. Without a moment of hesitation, she turned and flipped the offender to the ground.

"OWW, SAKURA!" came an all to familiar yell.

Sakura looked down to see the wide grin of a familiar face. "Naruto! You're back!" She smiled back and helped him back up. "Sorry about that, you just caught me by surprise… I thought you were…" She stopped her train of thought before admitting to anything incriminating. "Never mind, I thought you wouldn't be home for another week or two?"

Naruto grinned again, "You mean you don't know yet?"

"Know what?"

"We've been assigned a mission; me, you, and Kakashi-sensei. Someone else too, but I don't think I really know them." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Apparently, it's a big deal and all… I'm excited!"

"How come no one's told me?" Sakura's eyes furrowed in confusion.

"Probably 'cause we're not going for a few weeks, but Tsunade wanted me back early or something. 'Least that's what Kakashi-sensei told me…"

"Oh, well… Where are we going?"

"I don't know, they haven't told me anything yet, but it's probably really important. Were you going to train?" Sakura nodded. She and Naruto began to head down the fields together. "Hehe, I'm really excited to go on a mission with you and Kakashi-sensei again…"

Naruto's words trailed off into a blur to Sakura. "Did… Sensei seem alright?"

"Haha, yeah. He seemed like he always does, y'know?"

_Damn, _Sakura thought to herself as her fingers grazed over the pocket her secret was in. _Maybe one page was not enough… For someone so observant, I can't believe he didn't notice this yet…_

She grinned with delight.

"Uhm, Sakura… you're scaring me," Naruto said, laughing at the generally temperamental pink-haired ninja.

"Naruto… you have _no_ idea."

Thanks for bearing with me! Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up soon!


	4. Conspiracies, Conspiracies

**A/N: **I'm so sorry for the late update. I got distracted by things… A special thanks to the reviewers, and also to Strawberry Moon Bunny, because without her late "Story Alert+" I would not have gotten to this anytime soon! But now that I'm back in the mindset, here we go again =]!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own these characters or Naruto… blah blah

=z=z=z=z=

**The Page Thief – Chapter 4: **Conspiracies, conspiracies…

Sparring with Naruto had become a real task for Sakura. It wasn't that she couldn't keep up anymore, even though he was a good deal stronger than her; it was more that she spent the entire time doubled over in something other than pain.

"Naruto! Naruto, stop it!" Sakura heaved out of her throat between laughs.

"Haha, Sakura…" Naruto rubbed his head, as that ear splitting grin pierced his face. "It wasn't _that _funny! I was hungry!"

"Naruto, you're _always_ hungry. When you came to my apartment and said you didn't want anything to eat, I thought someone was using a ninjutsu…" As Sakura thought back to that night, she frowned slightly at the thought of what came after Naruto's arrival. But as she eyed the blonde, a smile graced her face once more.

"Evidence, Sakura!" Naruto beamed as he knocked her forcefully on the head.

With this, Sakura lunged at him, striking a surprised Naruto, both of them tumbling to the ground. Through choked laughter, the pair rolled around, fighting for some form of dominance before collapsing in a huff.

Laying side by side, Sakura stared at the sky above. It had been a long time since she had spent time with Naruto. She remembered how it used to be, Naruto awkwardly trying to get her attention and she would attempt to ignore it. Well, that wasn't true, she berated him ungratefully. But Naruto was loyal to fault, and kept after her like a wounded puppy. Thinking back on it she almost visibly cringed. She hated herself for what she did Naruto back then, all because she was in love with… no… addicted to someone else. She couldn't even bare to think the name, as she forcibly gripped the grass below her. She hated Sauske more than she hated herself. Not just for leaving, and some of her even thanked him for that. But she hated him for how he treated her. It was worse than what she had done to Naruto. At least she had cared for Naruto, paid attention to Naruto. But Sauske had just ignored her, pretended she did not exist. There was a ripping sound as the grass ripped underneath the strain.

"Sakura… are you alright?"

She turned her head to see Naruto looking at her worriedly.

"Oh, I'm fine," she smiled back at him. He knew, of course, what she was thinking about. But he wouldn't say anything, and she appreciated him for it. And she would thank him for it one day too, but not today.

It was different now for them, and they new it. Sauske leaving had been a burden off them both, but it had taken them a long time to realize it. Naruto had changed, making it easier to be around him. But Sakura had changed, too. She had matured emotionally in many ways. The event had created a wall around her heart and mind, protecting her from things that used to upset her. This was not to say that her temper had cooled any, because it had not. But she never got quite as wounded anymore.

She rolled on her side facing Naruto, and smiled as he pulled some grass out of her hair. It was a gesture that proved to her he still held the same feelings, but, when he immediately sat up afterwards, it proved that he wasn't going to push it on her any longer.

She continued to lie on the ground for a little while longer. Her eyes closed, shut off from the world. She began to drift off.

"Oi, Kakashi-sensei!" the cry pierced through her ears as she snapped out of her daze. She sat up and watched as the copy-nin approached in his lazy fashion.

"Yo, Naruto." His gaze slided over Naruto's pink-haired companion and then slipped back to Naruto. "Tsunade wants you," he continued lazily, his one visible eye barely open. He yawned.

Sakura noticed the book tucked underneath his arm, and her face immediately slipped into a frown.

"What is it, Sakura?" Naruto asked immediately, noticed her change in mood.

"Oh, nothing," she insisted forcing a smile back on her face. "Well, if you must get going, I need to go to the store myself!" She jumped up, smiled at Naruto and then turned to walk away.

"Sakura…" Kakashi said quietly. She could hear the quizzical tone in his voice, and a sliver of sadness.

She turned around and stared at him, her lips pursed. She was ready to explode on him. "Yes… Sensei…" she bit the words out slowly.

"Yo." An ear splitting grin evident beneath his mask.

Sakura opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. She let out an exacerbated sigh, then turned and stalked off, listening to Naruto's howls of laughter fade in the distance.

=z=z=z=z=z=

Naruto and Kakashi had been walking in silence for sometime, the copy-ninja's face buried in his book.

"Uhm… Kakashi," Naruto said, in a voice so tentative Kakashi could hardly believe it had come from it's source.

"Hn."

"Why does Tsunade want to see me?"

"Nn."

"You don't know? Usually when she sends you, it's important, right?"

Kakashi snapped his book shut. "She didn't tell me why she wanted you, I'm just the messenger boy." He tucked the book beneath his arm, and, with that, he bolted down a side street.

"Uh huh…" Naruto replied to a pair of ears no long within hearing distance. He picked up his pace, eager to hear what was going on.

When he reached the outside of Tsunade's office, no one was there. He looked down the hallway, surveying that no one was there. He knocked on the door, and heard a "come in". He pushed the door open to find Tsunade writing a letter. She looked up at him expectantly, clearly a little peeved at the intrusion.

"Whatcha need me for?" Naruto asked happily, ignoring the intimidating stare. Naruto was like that sometimes.

"What are you talking about? I did not ask for you." She stated matter-of-factly.

"But Kakashi said…"

"I do not care what Kakashi said, I did not send for you, nor have I seen Kakashi today." She turned back to the letter she was writing. "Now get out of my office, I am busy."

Naruto turned to leave, but then a thought came to him, "Are you sure you didn't just forget? I mean, you _are_ getting kind of _old_…"

Tsunade looked up in a fit of rage, simultaneously chunking a heavy book at his head, "GET OUT!"

With that, Naruto fled the room, ducking the book and slamming the door behind him. "Kakashi… I'm gonna get you…" were the last words heard by Shizune, as she stood in the hallway as Naruto fled the building.

=z=z=z=z=z=

Sakura sat in her apartment, stirring her bowl of rice aimlessly, thinking about her day. She was furious with Kakashi, and the feeling wasn't leaving her mindset anytime soon. _How could that bastard change books without even noticed the page?_ Sakura thought angrily, as she took a bite of food. It was cold now, her rice. She had been sitting at her table for well over an hour. It was curious how the cold rice stuck indiscriminately to the roof of her mouth, her tongue, and all the way down her throat.

She sighed audibly, but no one was around to hear it. She sighed louder, as if that would change her situation. But she knew it would not.

She needed a plan.

She needed to make sure he noticed this time.

She needed to make him as furious as she felt.

She needed to start a collection.


	5. Secret Meetings and Revenge Plotting?

**A/N:** I'm aware that my random updating can be a little nerve-wracking, but I'm doing my best while trying to settle my life at the same time. Thanks so much for the reviews and comments (I know my chapters are a little short )! But bare with me!

**Disclaimer**: Don't own the people or the places.

**Chapter 5**: Secret Meetings and Revenge Plotting

Kakashi was having a lazy day. Life in Kohona had been slow lately, and as a result he was less and less busy. He wasn't complaining exactly, for this meant that the world was behaving itself. But the copy-nin was growing bored (it was either that or complacent). He had a lot of time to himself, and therefore to his thoughts. Kakashi had spent most of life avoiding his thoughts, whether it was by indulging in his perverted books or throwing himself into each individual mission. Most people thought that his quiet demeanor was because he was so caught up in his thoughts, but in reality he just wasn't very extroverted. There were many things that offset Kakashi about people: flaws, arrogance, greed, pride... The list went on, but Kakashi played nice with most people. Many people mistook his disdain for being overly confident and arrogant. Not that he didn't deserve to feel that way, he was, after all, the famed copy-nin.

People would whisper in awe as he passed. Lie about conversations they claimed to have with him. Fake relationships, fake sex. A few women had claimed to have seen his face, and even fewer, rather "adventurous", men. It was all lies, about seeing his face at least. The sex, some of that was true... He was a man, and he succumbed to his desires and needs just as any man would...

Kakashi was having a lazy day, and, thus, alone with his thought. He held up one of his jiayara books and flipped it open, his one uncovered eye glancing over the words. He sighed, as he let the book fall back to his chest.

He could hear the footsteps of a child passing by, galloping along in that awkward stride that comes with growth spurts. His ears strained for more as he closed his one open eye. The soft trickle of a stream, a giggle from a group of women down the road, the soft sound of the wind blowing through the trees.

He opened his eye again and peered out through the leaves of the tree he resided in. It was a beautiful day in Kohona, and the copy-nin was content to sit in this tree...

This one tree...

=z=z=z=z=

Sakura was just finishing up her day at the hospital when she received a note:

_Sakura,_

_Meet me at the gate to town at seven. I have something to show you._

_Signed…_

But there wasn't a signature. "Who gave this to you?"

The small child giggled, put a finger to his lips and shushed. He then turned and ran. Sakura sighed audibly as she ran a hand through her pink hair. She looked down at the quickly scrawled note. The handwriting was unfamiliar… It looked hastily written, written with ink, and smudged like the author had been left-handed. Sakura could not think of any left-handed ninjas off the top of her head. She tapped her pen on the desk as she rested her chin in her hand. She glanced at the clock and rubbed her eyes as it registered to her that it was a quarter past five. A few people looked at her curiously as they ended their shift and left, wondering why she was still sitting their with no work. She stretched, stood up, and walked casually outside. It was still light outside, but the sun was threatening to begin it's decent across the Western sky.

Her stomach rumbled as it occurred to her she had worked through lunch. She dodged across the street to a café, ordered her food and sat down. She pulled the note out of her pocket and glanced over the not, searching for some hidden clue. The page was worn and crinkled. But other than that, there was nothing, just the unfamiliar handwriting in a hastily scrawled message.

"Forehead!" a voice from behind her carried across the restaurant. A sudden air of silence shrank over the café. Sakura visibly grimaced at the lack of tact from her friend, but it quickly turned into a smile as she was joined by her.

"Oi, Pig," she responded in kind as Ino sat down. The patrons settled back into their buzz of conversation.

"I've been looking all over for you, you know. Have you been avoiding me?" Ino stared at her with an accusatory expression.

Sakura laughed. "Of course not, Pig. I've just been busy."

"Forehead, I know you. You're never too busy for me, especially not in a time like this. The village is in a lul. Which is the _perfect_ time for you to start getting into a serious relationship… There's this guy I met…"

"INO, for the last time, STOP setting me up on dates." Sakura's green eyes flashed in a rage.

Ino frowned, "But Forehead, this guy is…"

"What this time? Funny? Attractive? Successful? _Large_? The last time you set me up on a date, the guy _proposed_ before the end of the night. EXCUSE me for not being so calm about this." Sakura was fuming, and the café was once again settling into an uncomfortable silence.

Ino glanced around surreptitiously, "But Sakura… I promise this guys a real catch."

"That's what you said about guy number two, who turned out to be a pedophile!"

"Well how could I have known that…" Ino gave a look of innocence, the famed puppy-dog face."

"Pig, he got the shit kicked out of him an hour into the date by an angry father, and was arrested 15 minutes after that on like… 12 counts of statutory rape and another 15 of indecent exposure."

At this, Ino burst out laughing, and Sakura could not help but join in.

"Ok, ok… Forehead, I get your point." A serious look came across her face, "But that guy was _amazing _in bed…"

Sakura forcibly pushed Ino out of her chair, "Shut up, Pig!"

Ino cackled and shouted, "OH NO! SEX!" And proceeded to run out of the café.

Every eye was now on Sakura, and she could feel the effects heating her cheeks. She quickly swallowed the rest of her food and followed Ino out side. She handed Ino the note and asked, "You think I should go?"

"Forehead, who's it from?"

Sakura shrugged, "Some kid handed it to me and wouldn't tell me who gave it to him."

"A kid, huh? Could be romantic…" A sheepish grin took the blondes face.

Sakura punched Ino in the shoulder.

"I know, I know, Forehead. Who could possibly be that romantic for you?" Ino laughed wildly again, "Go if you want, tell me about it later!"

Sakura sighed and headed for the town gate.

=z=z=z=z=z=z=

Dusk had just set as Sakura reached the edge of town. It was quiet out, and all the days' traffic had thinned out into a few stragglers. She passed a pair of lovers, fawning over one another. She could not bare but spare one glance and hurried along. Sakura had long been a romantic in her life, but, over the past year, her opinion of chivalry and romance had faded from the famed stories into dwindling reality. Not that Sakura thought people could find happiness in love, but she was just a little unsure of her own ability.

She reached the gate out of town a few minutes before seven. There was no one there, but she figured she would give it a few minutes. She stepped onto the bridge and leaned over the edge. Sakura closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

Looking just beyond the edge of town, a few paces down the path she noticed an all to familiar tree. She sighed as the bizarre memory flooded back to her.

_It was raining. _

_No… _Sakura thought. _It wasn't raining, it had been a downpour. The skies outside were mockingly mimicking her eyes, which were flooded with tears as she ran blindly through the streets. Each step she took sloshed, and her legs were caked in mud up to her knees. _

_She'd tried taking a page out of Sai's book by adopting an emotionless approach to life. It had worked well for month or so, but ignoring it had only added to the build up. She couldn't remember what had set it off. It didn't matter, she just had to run, had to get out of town. She heard the tread of her steps change as her footsteps thunk'd against the wood of the bridge. As she crossed the threshold to the other side of the bridge, she slid in the mud, scraping up her body. She couldn't move, but not because of the minor injuries. She dragged herself through the mud to the closest tree. Curled up in a ball, caked in mud, underneath the downpour, Sakura cried herself to sleep. _

She didn't know what had happened after that, just that she woken up in her own bed. It was one of her most cherished and most frustrating memories. She wished she knew what had happened after she had fallen asleep, knew how she had gotten home...

It was a quarter after seven when she decided to go home. She wasn't sure why she felt the disappointment that she did. Maybe she had held some tiny inkling of hope that it would be related to that day, but she would never admit that.

"Sakura-chan!" someone screamed out.

She turned around to see Naruto running towards her.

She stopped to meet the blonde-haired, blue-eyed ninja. "So it was you who left the note?"

He looked at her with a confused expression, "What note? Never mind that! I've been looking for you all over!" Naruto doubled over in a huff, his hands on his knees and breathing heavy.

"What is it?" Sakura asked tentatively, with Naruto it was always impossible to predict the way the conversation would go.

He looked up at her and his eyes sparkled, "I'll tell yah over some Ramen!"

Well… except when it came to food…

=z=z=z=z=z=z=

Sakura was watching Naruto eat, although inhale may be a better term. This was how eating with Naruto went. She drummed her fingers on the table lazily and sighed audibly.

"Sakura…" Naruto mumbled with his mouthful of ramen.

She looked up curiously, "Mmn?"

"You gonna finish that?"

She sighed again and pushed her bowl towards the blonde. After a few more minutes, Naruto belched and patted his stomach.

"Ok!" A smile split his face. "So you know when Kakashi came to get me? Sent me to Tsunade? Said it was important? And all that shit?"

Sakura nodded thinking back to one more infuriating moment in her life.

"Well… Tsunade didn't want to see me at all. In fact, she through something at my head!"

Sakura laughed measurably, "Naruto, what did you say?"

"Nothin…"

Sakura met his gaze furiously.

"Well, I may have called her senile…"

With this, Sakura's mood lifted genuinely and she laughed fully. "Naruto, you're an idiot.

"Hey! Well ANYWAYS, Kakashi got me in a lot of shit and I want to get him back!"

Sakura paused. This could be what she needed to really get what she wanted. But with Naruto's clumsy social skills, it could wind up a train wreck.

Her eyes went cross, "Naruto, revenge is so petty…"

"But Sakura, if we worked together… we could _really_ get him!"

Sakura shook her head, "Do what you want, but do it without me." She gave a dismissive hand single and leaned back, pleased with the performance she conveyed. Naruto had a loud mouth; it'd get around eventually, some sort of solid mental alibi.

Naruto nodded, "Well fine, I'll do it myself." Naruto laughed and Sakura joined him.

With Naruto out for revenge… the opportunities and the joy she would receive from his antics were limitless.


	6. Sick Days and Hospital Visits

a/n: so... long time, no see? I wanted to start a new story when I saw this one lying here and felt incredibly guilty. So here we are! I'm going to finish it, and it's gonna be great!

**Chapter 6 - Sick Days and Hospital Visits**

Sakura flicked her pen against the table in frustration. She hadn't slept at all last night and wasn't about to make it through her day un-maimed if she kept running into things. Something about yesterday had left her unsettled. Maybe she had gotten her hopes up about the secret meeting on the bridge, but that wasn't like her. Who did she want it to be anyways?

"Sakura?"

She shook the remaining thoughts out of her head to turn to the nurse that had called her name. Why was she this dizzy? That didn't make sense...

"Exam room three, please."

Sakura sighed and slipped the pen behind her ear and headed back to work.

She slipped into the exam room with a gentle knock and looked up to see none other than Hatake Kakashi.

"Yo."

To say she was startled wasn't quite the right word. Shocked was getting there. She looked down at the chart in her hand and then back to the man sitting in front of her. Her gaze slid to the window, which was surprisingly still shut and not broken, before rechecking the name on the chart (amazingly it was Hatake Kakashi), and finally landing back on the silver haired man.

"Yo," he repeated again, this time with his patented eye crinkle.

Great. Now she was hallucinating.

"What can I help you with, Sensei?"

In response, Kakashi pulled up his shirt, exposing a rather purple, finely-toned abdomen, and looked at her expectantly.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt the urgent need to giggle. The famous copy-nin was turning purple, or maybe she was just light-headed... Instead of compromising her so-called medical integrity, she cleared her throat. "What happened?" That was a medical question, right?

"I was sent out on an urgent mission yesterday afternoon. Quick, but urgent. There was a fight, also quick. And as you can see, this happened," he gestured at his bruising.

She was really wishing she had slept last night. "Does it hurt?" They exchanged a few moments of silence where Kakashi just blinked at her. She cleared her throat again. "Right, well... I'll take a look." She placed her hand on his upper stomach and he winced away slightly, but her brow was furrowed in concentration so he didn't protest. He felt the warm flow of her chakra as it seeped into him.

It was relaxing, and not just her chakra. Watching Sakura work was relaxing, even if pestering her was more fun. Kakashi gave brief pause to the thought of 'I could get used to this', but quickly derailed it.

"It doesn't look too bad, but I'm going to need a urine sample to be sure."

Kakashi nodded as she handed him a cup. The copy ninja frowned as he headed into the exam room bathroom.

"I could stick you with a needle if you like!" she grinned at him. Seriously, who frowned at a urine sample?

And as she shook her head, she saw it. Just edging out of his jacket pocket was one of his books. Her hand was on it before she'd even registered a movement, running her fingers down the spine before gently opening the book to access the contents.

"Why is it so hard to pee under pressure?!" Kakashi wailed from the bathroom.

Sakura smirked, "Who knew you'd have stage fright." She was idly flipping through the pages, trying to find one that caught her eye. Her eyes slid across the top of about fifteen pages before the phrase "questioning adoration" caught her eye. She very slowly placed her thumb and index finger on either side of the seam and began to pull, hearing the satisfying, quiet rip at steady intervals. When it was finally free, she slid the page into Kakashi's chart and the book back into his pocket, right as the toilet flushed.

He placed the cup on the exam room table, slipped into his flak jacket, and slid the window open.

"You know... You could use the door?"

Kakashi was gone with a shrug.

=z=z=

The urine sample was clean, but she knew it would be. It had been fairly useful as an innovative waste of the rest of her work hours, though, and that was all she had been after. She was exhausted as she left the hospital and was sure she resembled exactly how she felt. And at this moment she felt like shit. She stopped to pinch the bridge of her nose to keep the world from spinning and opted to sit down for a bit. Maybe she was getting sick. She ran through the past twenty four hours and upon reaching the question "Does it hurt?" smacked herself in the head.

"Ow, I'm such an idiot..." Sakura sighed, rubbing her eyes. Does it hurt? Of course it hurt! What kind of medical question was that? What kind of medic-nin was she anyways?

"Wow, Sakura, you look like shit!"

Sakura groaned as she peeked out at the offending noise's origination, "Thanks, Pig..."

"What's wrong? Was it the secret rendevouz?" She wiggled her eyes along with the last two words.

"I didn't sleep at all last night."

"Don't you move fast!" Ino practically shouted, shining a grin of at least fifty teeth.

"Ino..." Sakura rubbed at her eyes.

"You're no fun, forehead, you know that?" She sat down next to Sakura. "So what happened then?"

"No one showed up. Just some practical joke probably." She pulled her hands away from her face. "And now I think I have a fever."

Her friend frowned in response. "Hey, Sakura. Do you know why Naruto is practically prancing around? I saw him earlier, doing that man-child giggle he used to do when he was a kid..."

Sakura laughed, sort of. Laughing hurt. "He said something about getting back at sensei. I don't know what though."

"Maybe he stole one of those perverted books, yeah? That'd be hilarious... He'd probably destroy the village."

Sakura pursed her lips at this, but not for the reasons Ino thought. She wasn't concerned about Kakashi's supposed rampage, nor was it because she thought Naruto would be that stupid. What had hit her with a ton of bricks was that there was a single sheet of paper laying quietly inside a patient chart back at the hospital. Sakura muttered "Son of a..." under her breath before knocking herself in the forehead again.

Ino tsked, "Well, lets get you home, neh?"

=z=z=

The next thing Sakura knew, she was waking up to the glaring mid afternoon light. There was a mug of soup long gone cold, a glass of water that was lukewarm, and a note scribbled in the unmistakable scrawl of Ino:

_Forehead, _

_You passed out pretty quick. I'll get you out of work tomorrow, so get some rest!_

_-Ino_

Bless that girl was all Sakura could think as she grabbed the two pills that had slid off the page onto the table. Her throat screamed as the water slid down, followed by a soothed lull of pain. She placed her fingers on her throat and kneaded chakra in to reduce the swelling.

She considered rolling out of bed, but thought better of it and snuggled back in. Just as she was fading out of consciousness there was a light knock on the door to her apartment. Sakura groaned as she rolled out of the bed, faltering as she tried to right her fall, but managed to catch the table with her hand. Running a hand through her hair and casting only a cursory glance in the mirror, Sakura hurried to the door.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yo. I was wondering if I checked out?"

"What?" Sakura looked at him quizzically. "Oh... the results were in your... chart..." The last word trailed off a bit as Sakura's eyes snapped onto Kakashi. He didn't seem enraged. Was he luring her into a false calm?

"At the hospital." It wasn't a question.

Sakura continued to stare.

"I never intended to go more than once," he shot her a one-eyed smile that immediately faded as he looked her up and down. At the top, it looked like she had a very pink, very angry octopus attacking her head. Moving down, the little make-up she wore was smudged and her face was a little pale. Her tank-top might have been on sideways, not that Kakashi was complaining, but it looked rather uncomfortable. "You look like shit..."

"I feel like shit." Sakura gave him a tempered smile, but the rage pulsing in her eyes was a give away that the comment was unappreciated.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck with a bemused look on his face, "...I can come back? Later?" The two just stared at each other for a while. Sakura with an accusatory look. Kakashi with his hands weakly placed in front of him, as if to say 'I didn't mean it!' "Sakura...?"

A few more moments passed before she finally responded, "No, it's alright... It's fine, I'm just... It's fine." She sighed defeatedly. "Do you want to come in?"

She stepped back, swinging the door wider allowing him entrance. He nodded and stepped inside, "That bad, huh?"

"What? Oh, you're fine."

Kakashi looked at her amusedly.

"I just, sorry. You're probably busy... Anything else I can do for you?"

Kakashi took a step back outside, "Yeah... If you see Nartuo..." He gave her a quick, masked smile. A smile that would have flashed his canines had it been possible. "Tell him I'm going to kill him."


	7. Pranks and MidLife Crises

a/n: Look! Reasonably timed updates! Also, thanks to those of you who reviewed/favorited/etc! It really helped me commit to continue this story. It turns out I'm a sucker for gratification! : \

**_Chapter 7- Pranks and Mid-Life Crises_**

_"Tell him I'm going to kill him."_ In a flash, the copy-nin was gone and Sakura was left standing in an empty doorway. Her first thought was what could Naruto have possibly done to piss him off so badly. She knew he had threatened to enact his revenge, but killing was a little serious, even for Hatake Kakashi.

As she shut the door, Sakura went white. What if Kakashi thought Naruto had taken the pages? What if he actually _would_ kill for that? _Shit._ She hurried to change her clothes, but noticing her reflection opted for a shower as well. The rush she had just been in dissipated when she caught the lochness monster feasting on her head.

Sometime later, feeling fresh and clean, Sakura headed out in search of a certain blonde haired ninja. She attempted all of his usual stomping grounds. She stopped in at Ichiraku, but he wasn't there. She tried the training grounds and they were remarkably intact. She even tried his apartment, braving the old woman who lived next door with the ceramic cacti and a foot condition (which she loved to ask Sakura about). But in the end, she could not find him anywhere.

So instead, she went to the hospital to locate her prize. If one of her best friends was about to be obliterated on account of her, it might as well be worth it, right? It was still there, tucked in his chart where she had left it. A few people asked her how she felt, and had she seen the Hokage, she'd been looking for her earlier.

When she reached the Hokage's office with still no sign of Naruto, she began to worry. "Hokage-sama, did Naruto go out on a mission?" she asked as she walked through the door.

The Hokage didn't look up as she came in. And if she had heard Sakura's question, she declined to answer it, continuing to scribble on her desk. A glass of _something_ was resting near her, which Sakura's nose easily identified.

"I can just come back in the morning..." She slowly eased her way back to the door, like a child does when they think they've been caught.

"None of that, girl. Come back here."

Sakura turned back around, still slowly, afraid to provoke the beast before her.

"Oh for heavens sake, I'm not that drunk." Tsunade reached for her glass and swore she could have heard Sakura mumble 'yet'. "Anyways, yes, Naruto will be away from the village for a few days. It appears he played an elaborate prank on someone and, rather than risk wanton destruction, I decided to give things time to cool off."

"What did he do?"

"Well, it _appears_, for I did not have the good fortune to witness it, Naruto snuck into Kakashi's apartment last night and stole..." Tsunade paused taking another drink, while Sakura held her breath. Surely he wasn't accused of her own crimes... "all of Kakashi's masks while he was in the shower." Sakura took a breath of solace. "He replaced them with a rather delicate, bright pink floral print. But Naruto had placed a jistu on it so that it appeared normal until it saw sunlight... As you can imagine, Kakashi was none to pleased when several hours later someone had the courage to tell him why everyone was laughing."

The woman in front of Sakura started laughing. Sakura joined her, but mainly out of relieved shock than anything else.

"Can you imagine the _great_ Copy Ninja walking around town to civilians laughing at him?" Tsunade took another swig and almost choked as she chortled. "What I would have given to see that... I might actually give up alcohol for that." The two exchanged glances. "You know, for a day or two."

This time, Sakura really joined her mentor in laughter.

"Anyways, girl, I need you to try and calm the man down. I heard you even managed to get him to come to the hospital yesterday? Surely you can handle this."

"He came of his own accord..." She paused, "Honestly, Shishou, we haven't really been on good terms lately. I think he just finds me... irritating."

"You are!" Her mentor practically screamed with a grin, but after a menacing stare from Sakura, her mouth faltered. "Oh, come off it. Do what you can."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Sakura gave a mockingly high bow and opened the door.

"And Sakura," the Hokage yelled after her. "Tell him I said he looked pretty!"

As Sakura left the building, she could still hear Tsunade's roaring laughter.

=z=z=z=

It didn't really make sense to her. She had seen Kakashi just that afternoon and he had seemed fine, homicidal threats aside. Maybe everyone was just overreacting, the copy ninja was a reasonable man. Sort of. Surely if everyone just sat down for a minute, they would realize that this was silly. She stopped walking when she realized that she was talking about Naruto and Kakashi. There was a lid torn off of a box here and someone needed to tape it shut. It was completely irrelevant that Sakura had placed a tear in the bottom of that very same box and intended to slowly pull at it until the box was completely torn apart. Her tear was subtle, a form of art almost. This lid business was going to be an all out prank war between the two, unless of course she could stop it.

So she changed her direction to Kakashi's apartment, assuming he still lived at the same place. By some happy miracle, not only did he still live there, he was home. Sakura knocked firmly on the door and waited. She heard some brief shuffling, then silence. A few moments passed and she knocked again. A little more shuffling, and Sakura bolted to the side of the building, turned the corner, leapt up a tree, and tackled a large dark form to the ground.

"Yo," the shape below her said.

"Sensei~," she began with smile. "How strange it is to see you here!"

The man was lying beneath her in the dirt, looking slightly perturbed. "Sakura, do you make it a habit of flinging people to the ground?"

"Only when they run from me."

"Ah."

They lay quietly for a few moments, before Kakashi cleared his throat and Sakura jumped up and stammered out an apology.

"So why am I being accosted?"

"Why were you running?"

"Hey, I asked first."

Sakura looked at him crossly, which is precisely what she did with her arms, "Are we four?"

"Yes." Kakashi answered a bit too enthusiastically.

"I heard an interesting rumor today and I wanted to verify its claim at the source..."

"No need to be cryptic, Sakura. I'm pretty sure I verified it when I gave you my message, now if you'll excuse..."

"NOPE!" She grabbed his arm. "You're staying right here till we're done. Why did run from me?"

The copy ninja sighed and tucked his hands in his pockets. "Is it a crime to not want to talk to you?"

"You talked to me earlier..."

"And now you're trying to console me. I don't need nor want to be consoled."

"Look, I think we're pretty even here, considering the state you saw me in earlier."

Kakashi chuckled at that, "You were a mess... And to think I was starting to see you as a woman."

Sakura let go of his arm and swung a fist at him, "You really know how to complement a girl."

He grabbed hold of her fist before it could touch him, "I'm not trying to complement you, Sakura." He paused, really looking at her for the first time tonight. "I'm trying to... I don't know," he dropped her fist and ran his hand through his hair. "Kakashi..." Their eyes met for a moment and Sakura could see some inner war raging in his head.

"It's all right, Sakura." He smiled at her. "Sensei's just being an old man." He reached out to tussle her hair, before thinking better of it, and pulled out his book instead, briefly showing Sakura a purple cover.

_Son of a..._

Not only was Kakashi going through some mid-life crisis that involved intense mood swings, but he had also switched books without a word. _Again_.

"Are you alright, Sakura?"

Her anger was building with each passing thought, but she forced a smile to her face. "Yeah, just remembered something I left a the hospital..."

"Don't let me keep you." And with that, the copy ninja began his journey into the village.

Sakura swung up into the tree above her and hopped in the window that Kakashi had just exited, and there on the wall was his bookshelf. She reached forward and ran her hand along the spine of each book before stopping to pull one out. It was a tattered green book. First edition and signed. Flipping to a random page near the end of the book, Sakura eased it out of the binding before sliding the book back into it's place. And without another thought, she was gone.

=z=z=z=

The next night, Naruto had returned to the village with his chin held high. He had found his way to Sakura and begged her out to dinner, so they sat at Ichiraku while Naruto gleefully told her his story. "He was _so_ mad! It was great."

"Naruto. I'm going to be honest with you... I only made out about half of that because you stuffed your face the whole time."

Naruto waved a hand at her as he took another mouthful.

Sakura sighed placed her chin in her hand, waiting for Naruto to finish. Which would come about sooner or later.

"Ken I git uh-nuther bowl?"

Or later.

A few moments later, another bowl stood in front of Naruto as he knocked the old one to the side. "But yeah, I was thinking about doing something else to him too. You know, to really set him straight!"

"Naruto..." Sakura began, trying to think of how to phrase this. "I think maybe you should go easy on him."

"What for?" Naruto frowned.

"When I talked to him last night he seemed..." Seemed what? Depressed? No, that wasn't right. "A little down."

"Oh," was all he managed to say as he dove into the next bowl. A few more moments passed when Naruto began to slow his movements and pushed the bowl away. "I don't feel so good..."

And he didn't look to good either. His face was turning a little green as he stood up, clutching his stomach. Sakura picked up the bowl and smelled the ramen he has just consumed. "Naruto, this smells awful."

"It smelled fine to me!" He snapped at her before groaning and bending over.

At that very moment, someone walked up behind them. "Oh, wow. It seems like someone gave you bad ramen that made you sick. How awful... I wonder who would do that."

They both turned around to see a certain smiling, silver haired ninja.

"Sensei!" Naruto shouted, making an attempt at grabbing Kakashi, which he easily dodged. Naruto groaned and doubled back over.

"Easy tiger," he turned and winked at her. "Thanks for helping, Sakura!"

"I'm gonna' get you, Sensei!" Naruto growled in a half-menacing, half-pitiful voice.

So much for the tape.

=z=z=z=

Kakashi had exited shortly after Naruto's pathetic threat, leaving Sakura to take Naruto home by herself. After about an hour, she had managed to get him to lie still long enough to sleep, and so she made her way home.

As she reached the front door to her apartment, she became aware that she was not alone. Her body stiffened as the tinge of familiar chakra swept over her, but it was filled with some emotion she didn't recognize. She began to turn, a slow, deliberate movement, trying to giver herself time to decipher the emotional signal. And right as she did so...

In a heartbeat, he was behind her. But not in the menacing way she expected. Her back was pressed up against him, but he made no other contact. Another heartbeat passed when she felt his hot breath on her ear through the thin cloth that covered his face.

A few more seconds slipped by. Her heart had forgotten it's most basic rhythm and instead fell too a sporadic pulse.

"Would you," he began. "Like to explain yourself?"

Sakura licked her lips as his breath pulled away from her. Explain what exactly? What did he know? She attempted to shrug, but that just brought Kakashi to her other ear.

He continued, "You were in my apartment after I left last night." He paused and took a deep breath, before spinning her around. "And _something_ was missing."

She gulped. Was this it? Was this the moment that Hanuro Sakura was meant to die? As if everything she had ever lived for and accomplished was going to culminate in this one moment. "I... uh..." Their eyes locked and Sakura wasn't sure she'd ever seen Kakashi look so menacing.

"What have you done with Mr. Ukki?!"

"Uh..." Sakura didn't know how to respond to that. All she could really do was stare at him, blinking and muttering random syllables. Her pinks were a deep shade of red, of this she was sure. Finally she managed to say, "Your plant?"

"Yes, Sakura. My plant is missing. You were in my apartment yesterday without permission, I can only assume..."

"Why would I take your plant?"

"Don't lie to me, Sakura."

Sakura looked down at her feet. How could he make her feel like such a child?

"What were you doing in my apartment?"

Sakura started stammering for an excuse, but her mind was blank. She couldn't tell him the truth. Should she blame Naruto? If the plant was missing he was probably involved. Kakashi wasn't blinking as far as Sakura could tell and was beginning to wonder why she had ever thought to cross this man in the first place.

In the middle of her frustration, Kakashi started smiling. Only, she was too busy fretting to notice. "I'm just messing with you, Sakura. You don't have to be so... _terrified_." He said the last word with amusement.

Sakura watched him shove his hands in his pockets as he turned to leave without a word. And all of the sudden she remembered why crossing this man was the best decision she had ever made. For some reason it hurt to watch him walk away from her. "Sensei, why don't you stay for tea?"

Kakashi turned around to face her again. "I can't. I'm afraid I just gave Naruto an idea about stealing my plant. How about a rain check?"

Sakura smiled, "Well you must defend Mr. Ukki's honor."

Kakashi nodded, a smile passing through his eye, "I knew you'd understand, Mr. Ukki can be a menace if he wants to..."

"Well, once you've safely locked down Mr. Ukki, why not bring him to tea tomorrow?"

"How about four?"

Sakura sighed, "Yeah, yeah... I'll see you at 6."

Kakashi winked at her, at least Sakura was pretty sure it was a wink. Kakashi's blinks and winks tended to look fairly similar. And then he was gone, presumably off to secure the safety of a plotted plant.

* * *

**a/n**: so that was a good deal longer than my usual chapters (which is probably a good thing). Don't worry, Kakashi will find out about his missing pages fairly soon and there will be much more Kakashi and Sakura based interactions as well.

On another note, if anyone has an idea/suggestion for various pranks Naruto and/or Kakashi can pull on each other, please feel free to leave them in a review. If any of them inspire me, I'll obviously give you credit for your idea. Thanks in advance!


	8. A Night at Sakura's

a/n: Sorry for a little bit of a delay, and it's a little shorter. But classes and such are starting to get in full swing and I'm battling a bout of depression.

Chapter 8 - A Night at Sakura's

It was reaching the seven o'clock mark when Kakashi finally showed up for 'tea'. Why Sakura had made a quip about six o'clock, she would never know. Why she had invited him over in the first place was still a mystery as well. But she'd had a fitful nights sleep and an equally satisfying day at the hospital, so she'd be damned if the Copy Ninja was going to change things. As such, she'd opted to make dinner as well.

When she opened the door to retrieve him, all she could really look at was the plant safely nestled in the crook of his arm.

"Yo," Kakashi threw a two-fingered wave with his free hand.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei. Mr. Ukki," she nodded at the plant with a grin before opening the door wider to allow him inside. "I have to say, I didn't actually expect you to bring the plant..."

"Well it would've been rude for him not to accept such a nice invitation. Besides, it's not safe for him."

"Is Naruto on the prowl?"

Kakashi nodded, "I saw him lurking around my place as I left."

"Shouldn't you..."

Kakashi waved her off, "Oh, I'm sure everything will be just fine." The glint in his eye told Sakura that it couldn't possibly be 'just fine'.

"Well dinner is almost ready, if you'd like to have a seat." She gestured for him to follow as she walked into the kitchen, indicating the table.

Kakashi stopped and frowned, "Why is there a third place?"

"Well, Mr. Ukki has to sit somewhere, doesn't he?"

"I thought..."

Sakura grinned, "Just because I didn't expect you to bring him doesn't mean I couldn't make you feel guilty about it."

Kakashi chuckled as he set Mr. Ukki in front of the third plate on the table before taking a seat himself, "You kids are going to be the death of me. You know that, Sakura?"

"We're not kids anymore, sensei! I'll be 20 in two weeks, you know." Sakura placed the last dish on the table and sat down to a groan from Kakashi.

"Don't remind me... You can't say 'Sensei' and '20' in the same sentence."

"Do you feel old, _sensei?_"

He glared at her.

With the most seductive voice she could muster, Sakura asked, "Would you like to feel younger?" She was met with a wide, one-eyed stare. She watched him swallow and open his mouth. "Because if you do... I have a solution..."

"Sakura... I don't think..."

She bat her eyelashes and gave him a sweet smile, "You should eat your damned vegetables!" With the look of a relief that passed through his visible features, Sakura lost it. When her roaring laughter calmed down, she was met with an unimpressed look.

"Well, I guess I deserved that after last night..."

"Yup!"

The meal that followed was mostly filled with quiet talk of whether or not Mr. Ukki would like certain foods, and by the end of it his plate was piled into a small mountain.

"Well, Sakura. That settles it."

"Huh?" she looked up from her plate, fork hanging out of her mouth.

"You're cooking is shit. Mr. Ukki didn't touch a single thing."

"You ate all of yours!" she accused him, dropping her fork to point at him.

Kakashi held up his hands defensively, "I'm a gentlemen, Sakura. I was being polite."

Her brow twitched at his words, lips pressed into a thin line. She was met with an obvious, hidden grin. As the silence thickened, Kakashi jumped up from the table and began collecting dishes. Sakura stared at him blankly, and all Kakashi said was "Gentlemen, Sakura. Gen-tle-men." Annunciating each syllable like he was speaking in a foreign language. He gave her another quick smile, before proceeding to do the dishes. All the while, Sakura watched him with a bemused expression.

When it was finally time to part ways, Sakura leaned against the wall by the front door, watching Kakashi place the plant in the crook of his arm again. As he passed her, he leaned over to her ear, his breath hot. "Sorry about Mr. Ukki, he's kind of an asshole."

Sakura shivered at the way his words hit her ear. Her body tensed, her breath quickened, her cheeks reddened.

And that's when she heard the door close.

=z=z=z=

She wasn't really sure how long she'd been standing there against the doorway. But she didn't feel inclined to move. She was comfortable, which she thought a little odd, but who was she to argue with her own body? And so, when the furious knock came on the door, it came as a shock to her dozing consciousness.

Sakura jumped up and flung the door open, only to immediately fall on the floor. She stared, open mouthed, through the doorway, unsure of what to say or even what she was currently seeing. "Naruto?" She finally managed to ask.

She was met with a grumbling scowl, which sounded something like, "I'm going to kill him..."

"I've heard that before..." responded, mainly to herself.

When Naruto stepped into the light of the apartment, Sakura lost it. Her laughter rung out as he screamed, "It ain't funny!" over and over again.

After she regained some of her composure, Sakura took the time to look him over again. His entire body appeared to be a deep magenta, from his boots to his normally blonde hair. She tried to stifle another giggle.

"It won't come off," he whined. He crossed his arms across his chest and slid to the floor.

"What happened?" But Sakura knew perfectly well what had happened. Seeing Naruto and the glint in Kakashi's eye earlier that night told this story better than Naruto ever could.

"I was trying to get him back, you know? So I went to his apartment, but he'd set up trap for me... and..." he gestured to himself. "What do I do?"

Sakura looked him over again, "It'll probably wear off in a day or two, but until then you could give everyone a good laugh?"

He glared at her and then quickly exited her house.

This time, the door didn't close.

=z=z=

Naruto had been the talk of the town for a week. Even after the color had faded, people would quietly giggled as he walked past. He glowered at them before skulking off. He'd told Sakura he was 'plotting', but as to what she didn't know.

Kakashi had rarely look so pleased with himself and seemed to be around more often than not, which confused Sakura a little bit. But she'd used the extra time to her advantage, now having nine pages safely tucked away in her apartment. By some tiny miracle, Kakashi had yet to notice and she was starting to feel a bit remorseful. Perhaps she should put them back where they belonged and maybe he'd never find out who tore them out in the first place? Maybe he already knew and was luring her into a false sense of security.

All of these questions ran through her mind when she heard it. At first, she thought it was a whisper, but quickly decided it was to deep. But it wasn't loud enough to be someone talking, and she was the only one in the hallway. And then she heard it again. The hair on the back of her neck raised up. Her heart rate simultaneously sky rocketed and halted. Her mouth went dry. And deep in her bones, she knew that he knew.

And it came a third time, an echoing scream across the village.

"NARUTO!"

=z=z=

a/n: Cliffhanger? Maybe... A little bit of fluff, a little bit of pranking, and (hopefully) some plot advancement!

Thanks to readalot, for the dye idea. I may have taken it to the extreme... but I felt like Kakashi would prank extra hard.

Also, I really, really appreciate the reviews! Every time I get one, I feel the need to write a little more, so, to ur dark angel, Sammix6x, boogotu, Temarilyn, FemJiraiya, ParadoxIsle, and one guest, thank you all very much for encouraging me!

I'm already about half-way through the next chapter, so I'm expecting it to be up by the end of this week, thanks!

Please Review :D


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